Charmed (1998) - 30 questions

Question: In the theme song, are the lyrics "I am the son/and the heir" or "I am the sun and the air" Because they both seem to fit.

Answer: It's "I am the son, I am the heir of a shyness that is criminally vulgar. I am the son and heir of nothing in particular."

Question: Why can't Paige heal people? I've only ever seen her heal about one person. Is there any particular reason for this?

Answer: Chris explains in the episode "Valhalley of the Dolls" that healing is extremely difficult, and can only be done by accomplished Whitelighters. Paige has only had her powers for a few years and is only half-Whitelighter, so she can only heal people when Leo helps her.

Question: How much (roughly) do the main actors get paid per episode?

Answer: it is rumored that shannen, Alyssa, and Holly were paid from $30,000-$50,000 an episode for the first 3 seasons. It is also rumored that Alyssa was given up to $80,000 for the other seasons, and Holly was given $60,000. (Not confirmed. Got answers from http://members.aol.com/rexfelis3/faq/faqcast.htm).

Question: Series 8 started airing in the U.S in September of last year and the U.K early this year. It will end in the US 3 weeks before the UK. Why if there was such a large difference in original airdates are they finishing so close together?

Answer: This is down to the ways that the respective countries show series. The U.S. will often stop in mid-series and show repeats, dragging out a series of twenty-odd episodes over forty or more weeks, whereas the U.K. will just run straight through a series from beginning to end. As a result, the U.K. tend to catch up, or, as has happened on a few occasions, actually overtake the U.S. schedule.

Question: If "Whitelighters" are "technically" dead how is it Leo can do everything human? Eat, drink, feel, love, oh and father children. As well as when "Grams" and Patty came back they often came in human form at least some of the time?

Answer: They are given a new physical body that has the "triple helix" DNA like witches.

Question: In season 8, the sisters and Leo change their names. Paige becomes Jo, Phoebe becomes Julie, Leo becomes Louie, but what did Piper change to?

Answer: Her name was Jenny when she was the Blonde and Jamie as the brunette.

Question: In the first few seasons, the Charmed Ones can retrieve a spell from the Book Of Shadows by just hovering their hands over the book & the book will turn to the correct page. However, in later seasons they have to turn pages manually. Why?

Answer: They weren't searching the book. They were "concentrating" and their ancestors (Grams specifically) were helping them search. Later, they begin to know what to look for.

Question: In the early seasons, the Charmed Ones were able to communicate telepathically but they don't use this ability anymore. Why?

Answer: There was one episode where Piper an Pru cast a spell to hear other people's thoughts. That was the only time they communicated with each other telepathically (just Pru and Piper).

Question: There are many instances of these characters manipulating time (i.e. Chris comes back to change the future so Wyatt is good, and there's all that back and forth in the series finale to make things turn out the way they want). Is there ever any explanation given as to why they never manipulated time to go back and prevent Prue from dying? Obviously it was necessary for the production, since Shannen Dougherty left, but is it ever addressed by the characters, plot-wise?

Answer: The witches' time travel spells could never be specific enough. They had to rely on the Source to reverse time more accurately to save Piper and keep magic from being exposed. It's assumed that Chris has the knowledge to go back to the right time. In the series finale you see that Piper has trouble going to the right periods of time (Going back to when Patty was pregnant with Phoebe, going to the future where she's the grandmother when she wanted to get to grams etc.)

Question: Are there any outtakes/bloopers anywhere for the show?

Answer: There are loads of outtake videos on youtube.

Question: Christy and Billie Jenkins are very powerful witches, yet it's been established that their parents are ordinary mortals. So, where did they get their powers from?

Answer: In the episode Mr and Mrs. Witch, Billy's mom explains that their grandmother was a powerful witch and that it just skipped a generation.

Question: Throughout season 8, Christy and Billie have been described as the "Ultimate Power" by various sources. Why are they, these two relatively young and inexperienced witches, described as the ultimate power when the battle ready and experienced Charmed Ones have come up against centuries old demons and beings with far more powers, such as The Source of All Evil, Barbas, Zankou, Cole etcetera?

Answer: Because they are unique from the previous demons (like the Source, Zankou, et al) because they are witches and human (and the sisters have not vanquished mortals before), and because Billie is a friend of the Halliwell sisters, and they trained her personally (making her the last person the sisters would think of as a threat). This makes it a difficult moral quandry for the Charmed Ones, since they care about Billie and aren't enthusiastic about killing humans (unlike demons, whom they will hunt and kill without the moral problem). Also, Billie's thought projection power (a rare and formidable power) combined with Christy's telepathy and fire-starting ability make their combined powers incredibly strong, enough to challenge the Charmed Ones.

Question: In the opening credits, Holly Combs is credited with "and Holly Marie Combs as 'Piper'". Why was she credited with her character's name, when none of the other three lead actresses were?

Answer: Her agent/manager negotiated a special billing as part of her contract. It distinguishes her from the rest of the cast, probably when she became a producer on the show.